When I was in high school, text messaging was on the brink of exploding as the favorite form of communication amongst my peers. All of my friends sported the coolest new flip phones and my parents had me convinced I wouldn't ever get a cell phone before college. However, they underestimated the convenience of being able to get in touch with me at any moment once I passed the test to get my driver's license. I, too, received my very own flip phone just before my 16th birthday. Mine was nowhere near as fancy as many of my classmates, but I had a phone and fit in, nonetheless.
This was all before touch screens and internet capabilities for cell phones. Teachers around the world crusaded against these ringing and buzzing little boxes and soon they were banned from many high schools altogether. That did not stop us, though. It probably fueled our fire even more. We all know that with high schoolers, the first thing they want to do is break the rules. We brought our phones to school and stealthily texted from our laps during class. Instead of passing notes, we simply shot a text across the room. Many of the sneaky tricks we adopted have since been exposed by teachers everywhere, but back then they were bulletproof.
I would be willing to bet that my generation financially supported the cell phone industry, at least at the very beginning. We were the first to be interested in and understand these new technologies. How many of you have parents or grandparents who ask you to teach them how to use their shiny new iPhone that they know nothing about? We made the cell phone cool and it did not take long for the cell phone companies to catch onto the trend.
During my years in high school I saw the LG Chocolate, the T-Mobile Sidekick and the Motorola Razr gain and lose popularity as if they were part of the cheerleading squad. We were the one's using their products and the companies took advantage of that with their use of advertising and cell phone plans offered. Even today, Verizon's new "Rule the Air" campaign features ambitious teenagers plastered on billboards or television commercials who need a strong signal to change the world.
The Apple Store offers free iPods to students buying laptops during the early fall and just in time for back to school. Who doesn't want to go back to school with a fancy new computer and glittering iPod to sport to your classmates?
As a society we have even begun to identify ourselves with what type of technology we use on a day-to-day basis. I'm a Mac, but my parents are PC's. See what I mean? It is not cool to read a real book anymore, but the Kindle puts the bookstore right in the palm of your hands. Satellite radio and iPods have phased out CD's gradually for the last few years and CD's did the same to cassette tapes years ago. VHS's were replaced by DVD's which are gradually being trumped by Blu-Ray discs. Video game consoles and wireless controllers are on every teenage boy's Christmas list. All of which are marketed to my generation and younger.
To have all of these things, especially as a teenager, is to be cool. Everyone wants to be the first to have the newest technology and there is new technology for basically every aspect of life. High schoolers will always define cool by what is new to them, therefore technology will probably be an aspect of popularity from here on out.
No comments:
Post a Comment